Balsamic Glazed Vegetables & Smoky BBQ Steak

With the weather so hot here in Australia at the moment, I tend to do most of my cooking on the BBQ. This is a beautiful way to spend the evening with the family, music playing in the background, the kids playing on the lawn while I cook, I just love it!

So here is a gorgeous meal that will have them coming back for seconds.

• 1 cup of good quality Balsamic Vinegar
• 2 tbsp Brown Sugar
• 1 large Red Onion
• 1 bunch of Asparagus
• 1 large Red Capsicum/Bell Pepper
• 1 large Zucchini/Courgette
• 1 ear of Corn
• 1 small Radicchio

Place the balsamic vinegar and brown sugar in a small saucepan and bring to the boil, stirring to dissolve the sugar. Reduce the heat to as low as you can and let simmer until it reduces and becomes thicker. This will take some time, roughly half an hour depending on the consistency you're after. You should eventually end up with about 1/3 to 1/4 cup of glaze.

Note* The smell while reducing the vinegar can be quite potent, so make sure you are in a well aired kitchen, and try not to stick your face directly over the pot, unless you really want your sinuses cleaned out.

Meanwhile, prepare your vegetables by cutting them into large pieces so you can cook them on the BBQ, griddle pan or oven and roughly chop the radicchio. Snap the woody end off the asparagus, slice the onion into thick rounds so that they will hold together (as well as possible) on a BBQ grill, slice the zucchini on a diagonal to get a larger surface area, slice the capsicum into thick strips and cut the corn into about 4 to 6 pieces. Also, feel free to use any combination of vegetables that you love to eat, or even just one main vegetable, it's up to you, this is just what I used at that time.

Coat with oil, season with salt and pepper and cook over the grill until done to your liking. Cook them in batches if you don't have enough room on the grill and set aside covered with tin foil. Place the roughly chopped radicchio on a platter and top with the cooked vegetables. Then simply drizzle the balsamic glaze over the vegetables and serve while hot.

• 4 T-Bone Steaks
• 2 tbsp Brown Sugar
• 2 tsp Smoked Paprika
• 1 tbsp Malt Vinegar (you can use Balsamic Vinegar)
• 1 tbsp Worcestershire Sauce
• 2 tbsp Ketchup

In a bowl, mix together the all the ingredients and pour over the steaks, making sure to rub it all over. Cover and refrigerate for a few hours, or overnight. You can also use any cut of meat for this, as with the vegetables, it's what I had on hand at the time.

Heat the BBQ or griddle pan and cook the steaks to your liking.

Serve with the balsamic glazed vegetables, an nice crusty bread and a cold beer, or nice red wine.